


Sam Doesn't Show Up

by springsteenicious



Category: That '70s Show
Genre: F/M, Marriage Proposal, season 8 fix-it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-25
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:54:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26111443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/springsteenicious/pseuds/springsteenicious
Summary: What if Hyde had actually left Las Vegas before marrying Sam?Here's a look into what could have happened.
Relationships: Eric Forman/Donna Pinciotti, Jackie Burkhart/Steven Hyde, Randy Pearson/Donna Pinciotti
Comments: 10
Kudos: 53





	Sam Doesn't Show Up

"And I was right. I'm not ready to be married yet," Hyde said. 

Jackie smiled. "Yet?" 

Kitty's voice came from across the room, "This just in: Steven's not ready to be married yet." 

Hyde turned around. "Mrs. Forman, could you give us a minute alone?" 

"Sorry!" Kitty rushed out of the room. 

"So… you do want to get married one day?" Jackie asked. 

"Yeah, I do," Hyde said. 

Jackie grinned and threw her arms around him. He hugged her back tightly. They stayed like that for several minutes before they heard Kitty's voice again. 

"Eric, Steven and Jackie have been hugging for _four minutes!"_

Hyde pulled away and looked over at Kitty, "Mrs. Forman!" 

"Sorry, sorry! I just want Eric to know what's going on!" Kitty said. 

"Eric, me and Steven are back together!" Jackie shouted so the microphone picked up her voice. 

Hyde laughed quietly. Kitty rushed over to them. 

"I'm so happy you worked things out!" Kitty said. Then she left through the kitchen door. 

"Listen, Jackie, I do need to tell you one thing. While I was in Vegas, I hung out with this... stripper. I was just trying to get over seeing Kelso in Chicago. It didn't really work. But, um… I just thought you should know," Hyde said. 

Jackie nodded. "Okay. How much did you do with this stripper?" 

Hyde scratched the back of his neck. "Well… a lot." 

"Okay. You don't need to say anything else. Just… why?" Jackie asked. 

"Jackie, you have no idea how much it hurt to find Kelso with you in Chicago. I assumed the worst, of course, and I panicked. I thought you were over me and that hurt like hell. I figured a few weeks of meaningless crap in Vegas might help, but it didn't. I was still thinking of you every morning when I woke up and every night when I fell asleep. So I came back," Hyde said. 

"I'm glad you did," Jackie said. "And the stripper thing is fine. I mean, we were pretty much broken up. I just have one more question… Did you have any feelings for her?" 

"No. She was cool to hang out with, but I never liked her. How could I like her when I'm already in love with you?" Hyde said. 

Jackie smiled. "Aw, Steven…" 

She cupped his face with her hands and kissed him. He had missed the feeling of her lips, her hands, her everything. He had gone nearly a month without it.

"Man, when I was in Vegas I missed you like hell," he said when they parted. 

"I missed you too," Jackie said. 

Hyde kissed her again. Maybe they would be alright. 

~

Eventually, Kelso moved to Chicago to work at the Playboy Mansion. He gave his empty room to Jackie, who had been staying with Hyde at the Formans' when she wasn't alone in her own house. Jackie and Fez offered for Hyde to move in too so he could be with Jackie, but he declined. If he moved out now, Kitty would be devastated and Red would be pissed. 

He still helped Jackie movie all her stuff over to the apartment. He also promised to help her find a job soon. 

While Jackie was setting up her room, Hyde talked to Fez. 

"If I hear that you tried to spy on Jackie in the shower or in her bedroom, I'll hit you so hard you forget who Jackie even is. Got it?" Hyde said. 

Fez nodded nervously. "Yes, yes I got it." 

"Good." Hyde clapped Fez on the back. Fez gulped. 

Jackie skipped out of her room then. "Steven, come see my room!" 

Hyde entered her room, expecting to be assaulted with pink walls and floral prints. The room was actually quite different. The walls were white, as was most of her furniture. She had the same posters up as her old room. A picture of the two of them was on her nightstand next to the bed. 

"Nice digs," Hyde said. 

"Yeah. I hope you'll come over and stay the night every so often," Jackie said. 

"With Fez in the next room over? Great," Hyde said. 

"We have thick walls," Jackie said. 

"Now that is awesome," Hyde said. 

~

Jackie found a job doing makeovers at the Sears in the mall. She enjoyed it for the most part. She could do without the old ladies that came in asking for outrageous eyeshadow colors. 

But, she knows this is just temporary until she can get into college. She's applied for scholarships and Steven has offered to pay for part of her tuition if she can't afford it. 

Steven also visits her at work whenever he's free. He leans on the makeup counter and makes snide remarks about shoppers in the department store. Jackie loves it. 

A couple weeks after she gets the job, the gang decides to steal Fatso the clown. At first, she wasn't going to go with them, but Steven convinced her. Next thing she knew she was sitting next to Donna in a circle with the clown across from them. 

"Ugh, it just keeps staring at me!" Jackie whined. 

"It's because he likes you. He loves you. He wants to marry you then _kill you!"_ Donna shouted the last part. 

Jackie screamed and fled to Steven's arms. Steven laughed, but held her close. 

They ended up returning the clown. Jackie was happy about that. 

~

Soon after their clown theft, Jackie suggested that Donna was cheating on Eric with Randy. Hyde thought it was ridiculous at first, but then she explained. Then she told him about her plan to tell Eric.

"Woah, woah, woah, you need to have evidence first. We can't go making bold claims like that," Hyde said. 

"You're right," Jackie said. "Let's spy on them." 

Jackie and Fez created an elaborate plan to spy on Donna and Randy. Hyde just asked Donna outright if she was with Randy. 

"No. Even if I was, I wouldn't be cheating on Eric," Donna said. She immediately covered her mouth, as if she hadn't meant to say that. 

"Donna?" 

"Eric broke up with me," Donna said. 

"Aw man, I'm sorry," Hyde said. "He's a dumbass." 

Donna laughed. "I know." 

Hyde hugged her, something he very rarely did. When he pulled back, he said, "If you want to date Randy, you have my blessing." 

"What are you, my dad?" Donna asked. 

"Just someone who knows that Randy likes you as much as you like him," Hyde said. With that, he left Donna alone. He heard her shouting after him as he closed the door. 

Hyde relayed the information to Jackie and Fez. They stopped trying to spy on Donna and Randy. That is, until they had suspicions that Donna and Randy were really together. 

Hyde didn't want to pry Donna for information about her personal life, so he went with Jackie and Fez to spy on them. That's how he ended up in the back of a dark movie theater with a full view of Randy's hand vs. Donna's bra strap. 

Donna and Randy left partway through the movie, giving Hyde some time to have a make out of his own with Jackie. Fez was too engrossed in the movie to notice. 

~

About a month later, Hyde and Jackie were squished together in the backseat of the Vista Cruiser. Randy was beside them, Fez was in the trunk, Donna, Kitty and Red were up front. 

Hyde and Jackie had spent the day winning each other prizes on the fairway games. Hyde had dominated the balloon popping game, winning Jackie a big stuffed unicorn. She had been really good at the squirt gun target game, winning him a shirt that said 'Ask me about my squirting skills.' Hyde planned to never wear it in public. 

They were talking about the prizes they'd won when they hit a bump in the road and Fez dropped Mrs. Forman's engagement ring, losing it forever. Mr. Forman pulled over and left them all on the side of the road to look for the ring. 

They traveled deep into the woods, eventually losing Fez, though none of them noticed for a while. 

"Why don't we split into teams?" Randy suggested. 

"Yeah! How about me and Steven, then you two," Jackie said. 

"Perfect!" Donna said. 

Jackie took Hyde's hand and dragged him away from the other couple. She found a secluded spot, then pushed him up against a tree and covered his mouth with hers. He placed his hands on her hips and deepened the kiss. 

"I'm really glad we figured things out," Hyde said after several minutes of making out. He hadn't really told her how grateful he was that he still got to be with her. 

"I'm glad too. I can't imagine being apart from you," Jackie said. 

Hyde kissed her again. "I love you, Jackie." 

"I love you too, Steven." 

"Aww!" Donna crooned. They turned to see Donna and Randy walking over to them. "Jackie has Hyde pinned against a tree and he loves her." 

"Get bent," Hyde said. 

"Why are you guys back so soon?" Jackie asked. 

"We figured we should look for Fez," Randy said. "We found a trail of candy corn leading over to a creek, so we thought we'd get you guys first." 

"All right," Jackie said. 

Randy led them to the creek. He helped Donna get across. Hyde did the same for Jackie. They held hands the rest of the way to a cave, where the candy corn trail ended. 

Sure enough, Fez was there. A few minutes after that, Bob arrived. He led the five of them out of the woods and back to civilization. Hyde ended up spending the night with Jackie at her and Fez's apartment. 

Jackie sat on the couch in the Formans' living room. It was Christmas evening and they were having a party. Steven had been by her side most of the evening, but he had gone to get them sodas. 

He came back with the promised sodas, but also a neatly wrapped gift.

"Merry Christmas, Jackie," Steven said, handing her the gift and her soda. 

She set the soda down on the table, then reached behind her to get the gift bag she'd placed behind the couch. "I got you something, too." 

He took the bag from her hands. "You go first." 

Jackie tore open the wrapping paper to reveal a small jewelry box. She got a little nervous and excited, but it couldn't be what she thought it was.   
"It's not an engagement ring, if that's what you're thinking," Steven said. 

"Good. I don't want a proposal on Christmas," Jackie said. She opened the box to reveal a locket necklace. Inside was a picture of her and Steven under the mistletoe about a week ago. Donna had taken the picture.

"I love it," Jackie said. She undid the clasp and put the necklace on. "How does it look?"

"Beautiful," Steven said. 

Jackie beamed. "Okay, your turn." 

Steven opened his present. She had put a lot of tissue paper in the bag, so he dug around for the envelope inside for a minute or two. He finally pulled it out.

"Why'd you need such a big bag for an envelope?" he asked, smiling. 

"It was all I could find! Open the envelope," Jackie said. 

He did, and his face lit up when he pulled out what was inside. "Tickets to see the Rolling Stones next month?" 

"Yep. I heard they were coming to Madison so I asked around and got the tickets on sale!" Jackie said. 

"This is awesome, Jackie. And now my gift feels really lame," Steven said, but he was still smiling. 

"You can give me another gift later tonight," she said lowly, giving him a teasing yet sexy look. He chuckled and kissed her cheek. 

~

Less than a week later, everyone stood in the Formans' living room waiting for the countdown. Hyde had his arm around Jackie, trying not to fidget. He was nervous as all hell. He had big plans for tonight. It was currently 11:00, only one hour until the new year. 

Hyde and Jackie were standing together towards the back of the room and no one was really paying attention to them. Donna was focused on Eric, who had come back for a visit, Fez was talking to Kelso about Chicago, the Formans were talking to Bob. 

Now was as good a time as any. 

"Hey, Jackie…" he started. She looked up at him. "You know how a few months ago I said I wasn't ready to be married? I changed my mind." 

"What?" Jackie asked. "Does this mean you're proposing sometime soon?" 

"If by 'sometime soon' you mean right now, then yes," Hyde said. He backed away from her a couple steps and got down on one knee. Jackie shrieked and covered her mouth with her hands as he got out the ring box. 

Everyone's attention turned to them after Jackie's high-pitched shriek. Hyde licked his lips and started his proposal. "Jackie, a few months ago you asked me to marry you and then ran away before I gave you an answer. It wasn't until a month later that we figured things out and I told you I wasn't ready to be married. Well, now I am. Jackie Burkhart, will you marry me?" 

"Yes! Yes, oh my God, yes!" Jackie said. 

Hyde grinned and slipped the engagement ring on her finger. She pulled him up to kiss him as their friends and family cheered. 

~

Jackie stood with Steven in the Formans' driveway. Her new engagement ring glittered in the light of the sparklers they each held. They were counting in the new year. 

"Five… four… three… two… one! Happy New Year!" 

Jackie kissed Steven, knowing that 1980 was going to be a great year.

**Author's Note:**

> posted for my [numbered draft game](https://springsteenicious.tumblr.com/post/627434245094293504/i-have-22-unfinished-drafts-of-t70s-fics-so-send) on tumblr (springsteenicious) 
> 
> this is number 17 on my unfinished draft list


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